Page 42 of Crazy Rich Cajuns

For one, she was wearing a dress.That waspink.And had lace on it.

He’d seen her in sundresses and skirts, but this was adress.Like a dress she could wear to any of his mother’s gatherings.Or any cocktail party he’d ever want to take her to with the upper crust of Georgia society and politics.He narrowed his eyes.Of course it was.His mother had picked it out.

He would have never thought Kennedy would go along with it though.

It waspink.

The only time he’d seen her in lace was the time she’d worn thigh-high stockings with one of her skirts.The stockings had had lace at the top.The entire ensemble had been completely inappropriate for a crawfish boil in front of her grandma’s bar.But she’d worn it like she was a fucking princess and that was her coronation outfit.

He’d wanted to pull those stockings down.With his teeth.

This was not that kind of lace.

But the dress was only part of it.As she approached him across the expanse of perfectly manicured lawn, he noticed that her tattoo played peek-a-boo, at least, with the sleeve and skirt of the dress.Her hair was also down and softly curled.

Freakingcurled.He’d only seen it straight, in ponytails, in a braid a couple of times, and once in pigtails.Curls were way too…soft…for Kennedy.

Then she got close enough for him to notice that she was also lacking her usual dramatic eye makeup and lipstick.Her makeup was subtle and tasteful.

She had also taken out all of her earrings, including the ones in her nose and eyebrows, except for a pair of subdued pearls.

“Hi.”

He grasped her upper arm and turned her away from Duke without making an introduction.“We need to talk.”

She looked over her shoulder at his friend.“Nice to meet you.”

Bennett heard Duke’s chuckle.“Oh, you, too, Kennedy.”

She let Bennett hustle her across the grass toward the back door that would lead them into the kitchen.At the last minute, he realized that the kitchen would be full of caterers and he changed direction, heading instead for the fountain that was surrounded by a stone path with a couple of benches and a ton of flowers and bushes.It was a great place for people to hang out and mingle during his mother’s parties, but at the moment, the guests were all staying in the tent, closer to the tables of hors d’ oeuvres and the bar.After dinner, some might drift out here, but for now they had it to themselves.He stopped and turned to face her.

“What the hell?”he asked.

“Shouldn’t I be asking that question?You’re the one who dragged me away from the party after ten seconds of being there.”

“What’s this?”He looked her up and down.

She looked amazing.Beautiful.Soft.Sweet.

Not at all like Kennedy.

She always looked gorgeous.Kickass.Feisty.

“This is how the girlfriend of a future state senator from Georgia should dress,” she said, spreading her arms wide.“Apparently.”

He should have fucking known.“My mother told you that I’m running for office and that tonight the governor is here to talk to me about starting a campaign.”

“More or less,” Kennedy said, dropping her arms.

Frustration gnawed at the back of his neck, but it was frustration toward his parents.His mother was well-known for getting her way.She pushed things.Always.But she was really forcing this.And not listening to him at all.He knew it was about more than just getting him into politics.Maria did believe in him and that he could do good and be fulfilled in public office.But she also wanted him and his father to mend their rift and the only way to prove that had happened, to his father, was for him to declare a candidacy.At this point, it could be a candidacy for nearly anything.But it would be a signal that he was getting started, and it would be the first step toward…everything.The governor’s mansion.An office in D.C.alongside the other senators.Maybe something even more.This was supposed to be his legacy.And it would have been.If his father wasn’t a corrupt enabler of criminals.

“And you’re going along with it?”Bennett asked.

She stepped close, narrowing her eyes.“What I’m doing is not allowing you to use me,” she said.

Bennett scowled.“What’s that mean?”

“It means, I won’t be your excuse, Bennett.I won’t be a distraction that you can blame for not doing whatever this is that your family and everyone thinks you should do.I won’t be the reason that you’renotdoing it.As far as everyone here is going to know, I’m on board.I’m behind you.I think you’ll make the best president this country’s ever seen.”

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